Swiss Travel Pass and train tickets

Hi

I am planning to visit switzerland for 8 days. the plan is to go from Lake Como in Italy to Interlaken for 4 days then Bern for 4 days then back to Milan. We are a family (one adult, one youth, 2 children under 16). i was thinking to buy swiss travel pass(i think i can get the family pass for free with it )as i am planning to use public transpositions and trains. My question, i want to ensure the trip between Como and Interlaken (via Lugano ) as I have a hotel reservation. I read that there is no need to buy the train ticket and we can just use any train at any time! is this right? i do not want to miss the train. Also the return trip from Bern to Milan, and the train between Interlaken and Bern; i do not want to miss the train. So is it OK just to buy the swiss travel pass and use it at any time without caring about the time/type of the train(no reservation and no extra fees)??

Thank you,

Amell

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Amell!

Within Switzerland, you can simply board any type of train (except for some special panoramic trains) at any time with your Swiss Travel Pass, without the need to make reservations in advance. Please check our validity page to see what's included.

International trains are an exception to this rule. Trains crossing the border often require a seat reservation, and you'll have to buy additional regular tickets for the legs that are not covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. In your case, this applies to the Italian legs of your inbound and outbound trip, up to/from Domodossola or Chiasso. Whether you need seat reservations can be checked in the Swiss timetable: fill out your departure and arrival station and click the 'plus' symbol for your connection. An 'R' in a square means you have to arrange for seat reservations.

ok, let's say i will find my way from italy to Lugano then i want to go to interlaken from Lugano , this train will not cross the boundries, does that mean i can board without reservation or ticket in that train from Lugano to interlaken.

Yes, absolutely. It's all explained on the seat reservations page I linked to in my previous post.

one last question, why the price is not the same for the swiss travel pass, in the raileurope-gcc (3 days for adult by 164 euro) and in swiss-pass (3 days for adult by 210 eruo):

www.raileurope-gcc.com/pass/italy-pass?lang=en&var_mode=calcu l

http://www.swiss-pass.ch/en/swiss-pass/

Hi Amell,

I don't know the second website you mentioned, but in general I can say that rail passes are being sold just like any other product: every retailer can offer their own price, promotions, etc. They all sell the same pass though. In your case it makes sense to buy from www.raileurope-gcc.com/pass/swiss-pass, as that's your local retailer and the cheapest option.

Lot of Countries with Euro made a deal before Switzerland let the Euro go and bought the swiss pass for the old europrice. Those retrailers can offer swiss passes cheaper . It's worth for all Euromembers to look at websites in your own country.

That's indeed the case annekec, and in fact it applies to most countries outside the Euro zone as well. All the retailers are listed on myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass/ price, so that makes it easy to compare the purchase options.